Issued Date: 2019/7/1
Issued By: iST
“Cherish the time when my brothers are still able to move for a year or two, until they can’t walk.
In the middle of June this year, we received a letter from Ms. Shuhua Shao, she hopes to have a chance to set up a stall and sell some snacks. She wrote that she has two younger brothers who are genetically affected by a rare disease called cerebellar atrophy. The symptoms are irreversible and there is no treatment, so Shuhua quit her job and accompanied her brothers to start their own business until they could not walk.
Because the cerebellum mainly controls the muscles to coordinate the body’s balance and the clarity of speech, people with cerebellar atrophy begin with symptoms such as an inability to use chopsticks properly and inability to walk without swaying, easily fall, and hard to reach for objects. As the disease worsens, the patient gradually becomes unable to walk or write, and eventually the patient is unable to speak and needs to lie in bed, where daily life must be taken care of by others.
After hearing the story of Shao’s family, some of our colleagues hope to make regular donations to the association every month, but Shuhua said, “Instead of donations, we hope that you can buy products to support us.”
The products displayed in iST for three days, and a portion of the money will be donated to the patients with cerebellar atrophy association in iST’s name.
Official website of Taiwan Spinocerebellar Ataxia Association:
https://www.tscaa.org.tw/
